Regina's Grocery Brings 'Authentic' Energy To Match Yorkville's Vibe

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Growing up in Bensonhurst, Roman Grandinetti never thought much about the Upper East Side.

"It was like another county," Grandinetti said. "You never went to the Upper East Side."

Now Grandinetti is all-in on the neighborhood.

First, the newest and fourth location of his hit, hip sandwich joint, Regina's Grocery, opened on Wednesday in Yorkville, at 300 East 88th St. And next comes his young family, who are also planning a move to Lenox Hill.

"As I got older, I realized what a neighborhood the Upper East Side is," Grandinetti told Patch. "There's different pockets of it the same way like in Brooklyn."

The streets, he said, still give off that old-school New York vibe, because "it's still a neighborhood."

And that neighborhood energy, of people greeting each other on the street and striking up conversations with neighbors, workers and all of the characters that make city life so vibrant, is core to what Grandinetti says is Regina's brand: authenticity.

It's why when he first got to Yorkville, he knew this was a place where Regina's had to open.

"The neighborhood feels like a super old-school neighborhood, it feels authentic to me — which is what we love," Grandinetti said.

Tucked in on East 88th Street, just steps east from busy Second Avenue, the newest location of Regina's Grocery — which first opened in the Lower East Side in 2018 and has become a favorite for sandwich lovers citywide — feels like it's been here forever.

Sitting outside, Grandinetti was already friendly with the local UPS workers working their route and the super from the apartment building next door.

"What I love most about the brick and mortar is stuff like that," he said. "I think when the younger generation speaks to each other it's all digital — it's no real-life interaction. And I think that a handshake is unbelievably valuable still, and it's part of my heritage and how I grew up."

Inside the small shop, with just enough room for a take-out counter and a few small tables, hangs stained-glass pendant lamps, family pictures and walls filled with ephemera emphasizing his family roots in Italy — specifically Naples and Calabria — all touched by an incandescent glow of familiarity.

"All that stuff I took from my favorite places growing up," Grandinetti said, like his grandfather's social club which he remembers as covered in wood-paneled walls.

It's all inspired by family, Grandinetti said. The sandwiches are named after relatives and the store itself is named after his mother, Regina, who actually works three days a week at the original Orchard Street location.

"That's her store," Grandinetti said, where she preps meatballs, sauces and other sandwich ingredients. "She does all the real cooking," the admiring son said.

And on opening day, Regina was there, along with Grandinetti's wife and newborn son, watching as flocks of hungry Upper East Siders eagerly pored over the menu of sandwiches filled with roasted red peppers, hot soppressata, fresh mozzarella and more.

"I'm not a classically trained chef, we don't come from the food business, she never worked in a restaurant," Grandinetti said, who used to run his own creative agency before moving into the sandwich biz. "This is just something that we love and thought it was very connected to our family and felt authentic to us."

Regina's Grocery is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Their other locations are in the Lower East Side, Soho and Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

To get familiar yourself, visit Regina's at 300 East 88th St., or click here for their website.